Meghan Kelly- Casting, music, directing the acting, filming.
Myself- Director, creating a poster, filming.
Laura Walker- Producer, location, script, filming.
Ollie Turner- Editor, ideas, filming.
Initial ideas-
Running scene- Guy on his mobile phone talking to his accomplice at the train station
( camera flits from each character showing the journey) On a mission to smuggle things out of the country.
Development-
Starts in interrogation? Police officer asks questions about the diamonds...
Start to hear running...Fades from black and white > colour or other way round. ( Goes back in time to before he got caught)
Running through the city- on pavement, streets, alleyways- on the phone 'texts' or 'calls' people along the route ( all on the phone to each other) Diamond is passed discretely from person to person. See the train leaving the station- UNKNOWN as to whether it has left or not
Final idea-
Interrogator starts off asking questions ( small dark room with a tiny window and a chair in the middle).
The suspect is sitting on the chair with his arms tied behind his back ( spotlight on his face, making him feel uncomfortable). ( paper bag pulled off his head). Suspect starts to speak...as he looks up at interrogator we start to hear the sounds of someone running.
The sound gets louder and louder and eventually it fades to a different scene. Camera focuses on a man running through alleyways and streets, then, he discreetly passes a diamond to another character, slipping it into his pocket. The other character gets away... Cuts back to the Interrogation and the colour comes back? (Shows that it is present time). Interrogator- 'Go on...', then it cuts to the main titles.
Mock Up of Opening Sequence-
Mock Up of Opening Sequence-
Plot Synopsis
Plot outline of current idea for the film opening and where it would go if it was made into a full film-
Essentially, the idea revolves around this chase scene which is the main focus of the entire scene. The reason I have chosen a chase is because this is fast-paced and would keep the audience entertained throughout as opposed to films with little action.
However, the initial couple of seconds is the interrogation scene where we are introduced to one of our villains/criminals. The frame is pitch black for at least one second before a light is switched on. This could be flickering and seemingly artificial-not a candlelight to tell the audience we are in the 21st century. The entire scene will be black and white as to add to the suspicious atmosphere of the scene but also to signify that we are in the present.
However, the initial couple of seconds is the interrogation scene where we are introduced to one of our villains/criminals. The frame is pitch black for at least one second before a light is switched on. This could be flickering and seemingly artificial-not a candlelight to tell the audience we are in the 21st century. The entire scene will be black and white as to add to the suspicious atmosphere of the scene but also to signify that we are in the present.
Our villain is seen sitting on a chair or stool in the centre of the room, he is blindfolded (either duct tape or bag over his head) and is tied up with rope, his hands behind his back. From here, there will be several medium/extreme close-ups of the face and hands, revealing a closer look at the bruises and cuts on the skin (we will need to use make-up for this to add the bruises).
There will then be a short exchange between our villain and another man. At first we cannot see this man but after hearing his deep, rough cockney accent the man steps out of the dark and confronts the prisoner. He is wearing a long, black trench coat and hat with badges on to show he is of status and a member of the police force.
The camera then fades or splits to the chase scene where another villain is seen running down the street and through alleyways. He holds a suspicious looking brown briefcase that is battered, his hand firmly gripped on the handle to show it is of particular importance.
This scene will last for quite a long time with intermittent titles or text overlays in the bottom right of the frame. This criminal then quickly throws the briefcase over to the secondary criminal before getting caught (he turns down an alleyway and is confronted by a security guard). The other man then takes the case and runs off.
We follow him for a period of time using some long shots to get an overall perspective of the location and setting. We then fade back into the interrogation scene where the man is now shouting.
He opens the suitcase that is on the table. It is empty. The suitcase has obviously been switched which leads the interrogator to raise his gun (after effect here) and the it cuts out and the title is seen as an animation.
He opens the suitcase that is on the table. It is empty. The suitcase has obviously been switched which leads the interrogator to raise his gun (after effect here) and the it cuts out and the title is seen as an animation.
Audience Research-
We asked a range of different people 3 questions, what kind of film genre do you like?, what is your favourite film? And what do you think of our idea for our opening sequence?. This is what we got.
Genre-
We have chosen the crime genre.
This is because we believe it will allow us to demonstrate the skills we have learnt the most and be more creative with the plot, as we will be able to show more of the story as crimes often don’t follow a linear structure. However, we will have to be careful not to give too much away due to it only being the opening.
Narrative style-
Whist we knew we didn’t want to follow a linear structure, and include flashbacks, we couldn’t find a specific theory to follow. We only vaguely follow Propp’s theory, as we have villains and heroes, however it is quite ambiguous who fits in what category. This obscurity means we don’t have binary opposites and therefor don’t follow Strauss’ theory. And, whilst it is unclear, due to not having a linear structure, we don’t see a state of equilibrium so can’t precisely follow Todorov’s theory, however it is the most befitting of them all.
Casting and characters-
We originally planned to have four characters but have reduced to three. This was to ensure we remained within the restrictions of an opening and didn’t complicate things or exceed the time limit.
For the casting, we interviewed -
Our characters are as follows:
Interrogator-
Name- Dan
Age- 34
Profession- Dealing with criminals involved in cases such as theft, murder and suicide, he uses smart techniques and strategies to get as much information out of people as possible.
Likes- Violence and intelligence
Dislikes- Sarcasm, disloyalty and dishonesty
History- A decade working in crime, law and punishment, only child, left home at the age of 16
Personality traits- Quick thinking, sense of humour however is not afraid to use violence and aggressivity as defence or punishment, sneaky and backstabbing when needs be
Influences- The army
3 words- Funny, sly, smart
We chose Charlie Frazer to play the role of "interrogator" as he suited the part physically and he has had acting experience. He also has a GCSE in drama and is currently doing a drama A-Level therefore he will be used to following a script and acting as any given role. In the interview, he came across as confident, calm and quite willing which is very important, we needed him to fit the character description and play the role convincingly.
Criminal-
Name- John Barker
Age- 21
Profession- Drug dealer and smuggler
Likes- Adrenalin, fitness and fast cars
Dislikes- Relaxing and being second best at what he does
History- Been into drugs and alcohol since the age of 14, mother died a year later leaving him with nothing, joined a gang soon after turning to a life of crime. Been arrested 3 times in the last 5 years.
Personality traits- Loyal, trustworthy, risk taking and curious
Influences- The people around him when he was younger and the life he lives in order to survive
3 words- Intelligent, subtle, fit
We decided to choose Tom Coath for the role of the "criminal" due to the fact he also has a background in acting and has a GCSE in drama. He is currently doing drama as an A- Level and was chosen because we found his acting mysterious, original and expressive. The way he worked fitted effectively with the chosen character brief and the fact that he was confident and active meant that he was not afraid to take risks when filming.
Detective-
Name- Jess
Age- 30
Profession- Undercover detective
Likes- Fitness, small spaces, darkness, success
Dislikes- Loosing, rudeness, lying
History- Originally worked as a spy however was spotted by Dan and she became his assistant, she has been working alongside him for just over 6 years and is able to predict his every move
Personality traits- she will stop at nothing, adventurous, curious, forward thinking
Influences- Her boss, her childhood and her previous job as a spy
3 words- Determined, sneaky, honest
For the role of "Detective", we cast an A-Level drama student called () and found that her look and personality fitted perfectly with the character description/brief. We decided that due to her overall confidence and ability to apply her experience to any given role enthusiastically, she needed to play the role of Jess in our opening sequence.
Locations-
Interrogation Scene: Wymondham High Academy- Basement, dark and damp
The basement is stinky, dark and very impressionable. The light from the small grate in the ground creates effective shadows on the walls, using our torch, the shadow of objects and people will project, giving a spooky effect. We wanted to create a very claustrophobic, uncomfortable atmosphere to give the audience a feel of what it would actually be like.
Action Scene: Norwich- alleyways and quiet streets, the underpass
The alleyways are narrow and quite dark, meaning that our criminal would choose them to run through, trying to remain unseen. They aren't too busy however sparsely populated meaning that we might film the odd person here and there. As well as the streets and the alleyways, the underpass is also a very dark, impressive part of the city which we can use to our advantage. I feel like the light and the graffiti will be effective in what we want to achieve and will add to the atmosphere we hope to create from the film. It will also give the impression of being trapped.
Dialogue-
We chose to use dialogue sparingly. We decided to have no dialogue during the chase scenes and short questions during the interrogation scenes. This was to punctuate the fact that the interrogators are getting nowhere.
Soundtrack-
Rather than have dialogue during the chase scenes, we decided to have music. We wanted to use the song ‘Nothing Left to Say Now’ by Imagine Dragons, because it’s so drum-heavy and powerful, whilst also sounding very dramatic, that we thought it would be ideal to reflect a chase scene. Unfortunately, it’s copyrighted so we can’t use the exact version. However, we decided, as the music fit so well, to do a cover of it, so we could still use it. The following musicians were involved:
Base- Tom Coath
Guitar- Tom Coath
Drums- Clare Wright
Piano- Clare Wright
Lead vocals- Emily Durstan
Backing vocals- Myself
As well as this though, we wanted to use a range of intense, cinematic sound clips for the running scene, as this will create tension and excitement.
Breaking the fourth wall-
We felt that breaking the fourth wall would not be appropriate in our opening sequence as does not fit with the genre or the kind of effect we wanted to create from it.
Narration-
We thought that dialogue and a soundtrack would be more effective and impactful than narration as we believed it would prevent the opening from being as engaging as we wanted it to be.
Camera shots/ angles-
As part of the initial stages, we only decided on one specific shot we wanted to use. We thought that having a close up shot of feet running towards the camera (the camera tracking backwards so they stay the same distance apart) would be an effective way of introducing the chase scene.
Target audience-
Our target audience is approximately 12+. This is because crimes, generally, appeal to and interest a large age group. However, due to the mild violence displayed even within the opening, it would not be suitable for a younger audience. In order to attract this audience I am is creating a poster specifically designed for that age group.
To make these posters I simply used the idea from an artist I studied in Art Multimedia. It's inspired by Andrea Costantini, who uses 'image clouds' to represent what's going on in people's minds. I thought this was appropriate for the idea of a vigilante type detective whose main thought process is catching the criminal.
Rough Cut of Opening Scene-
Filming-
We followed through with our plan to film in Norwich. Our first day was spent in Wymondham High's old boiler room, which we used to recreate the basement of the detective. We started by gathering as much footage as possible for various shots and pans of the rooms. I started by filming selected areas which showed the decay and isolation of the room itself. After we were happy with this footage myself and Ollie began to film Meghan and Charlie walking into the joined room where Tom would be held. This was fairly simple and only took two shots to get right. Next we filmed Meghan slamming the door and shining a torch onto Tom's face. Here we really tried to capture the sound of the door slamming, and how the room went pitch black before the torch was turned on. We had several takes of Tom reacting to the torch, which looked incredibly realistic. Then we moved onto slapping. After much debate Tom agreed to use an actual slap instead of staging it purely for more realism. We took several takes (with us worrying for Tom) of him getting slapped, both a wide shot and close ups of each. We then filmed Meghan's parts accompanied by more hitting before finishing with Tom against the wall with Charlie.
Our next day was spent at Norwich at 8:30 in the morning. We began by filming Tom and Charlie running through the streets. Despite the coldness we managed some nice shots, despite the slight wobble of our shaking hands (which was easily fixed in the editing stage). We filmed through the arcade to get some more various environment shots. Then after being outside for too long that we were all freezing, we decided to move onto our indoor shots. We began filming them from a high angle (two floors above) to replicate a security camera. We also managed to get a great shot of them jumping over the camera on the floor, along with other various shots of the chase. Finally after a much needed break we moved into the underpass to film our concluding scenes. We managed to film more chase scenes and the confrontation scenes with much success, despite the odd pedestrian and trips when running. Finally we finished our day by recording Charlie's scene where he answers the phone, telling Meghan Tom is on his way. We even managed to use Tom himself as a passer by with a clever use of his hood.
Bloopers-
Evaluation
Who would be the audience for your media product?
Our target audience has always been teens to young adults. Since starting the idea we planned to have it based around our age group and the slightly older. This can firstly be seen through our casting, as we have no older adults cast, just actors of our age in the appropriate clothing. With editing we choose music which would suit our target audience and the genre too, with a mixture of fast cut scenes to keep the action current through the few two minutes.
How did you attract/address your audience?
I addressed our audience firstly by making some posters. The use of the combined images makes it easy to see what's going on, and gives the impression that the detectives are thinking about the criminal. Again we also cast individuals our age, so it would attract our audience. The music and editing aligned with this, as it fit the action sequence of our film, which is a popular genre for our audience in general.
Bloopers-
We also made some bloopers regarding our movie. These were an extra task we put upon ourselves to make it more of a realistic project. I feel these target audience as the humour and use of effects are often what draws in young people and adults.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDw5JXsLDjgEvaluation
Who would be the audience for your media product?
Our target audience has always been teens to young adults. Since starting the idea we planned to have it based around our age group and the slightly older. This can firstly be seen through our casting, as we have no older adults cast, just actors of our age in the appropriate clothing. With editing we choose music which would suit our target audience and the genre too, with a mixture of fast cut scenes to keep the action current through the few two minutes.
How did you attract/address your audience?
I addressed our audience firstly by making some posters. The use of the combined images makes it easy to see what's going on, and gives the impression that the detectives are thinking about the criminal. Again we also cast individuals our age, so it would attract our audience. The music and editing aligned with this, as it fit the action sequence of our film, which is a popular genre for our audience in general.
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